Jealousy
by SRHtheHedgehog
Summary: Takeshi notices something strange about Shinji. Can Hikari help him overcome his jealousy and possibly admit his true feelings...? Ikarishipping
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hikari's in her Platinum outfit in honor of the new Pokemon Platinum coming out soon! Everyone (in the US) make sure to preorder and get your free Giratina figure! 8D

By the way, I'd like to thank everyone who sent in questions for my last fanfiction. I'd also like to say sorry to those who didn't get a chance to send one in XD;

This might seem a little rushed or off. I haven't been feeling well lately and my head is killing me.

* * *

Hikari happily skipped through town. She was very glad to be wearing the cute, new outfit she had just bought. It was a long, pink jacket with large buttons running down the front, accompanied by a white scarf. She figured that since Shinou was getting colder, it was time for an outfit change.

She strolled down the nicely paved way that was covered in snow, swinging her bags at her side. She stuck a stick of chocolate pocky into her mouth and looked around at the buildings surrounding her. This particular town had many shops and tourist attractions. She spotted a trinket shop, an electronics store, an ice cream shop, a fast food restaurant, a _regular_ restaurant, a bakery, a supermarket, a clothing store, and a whole lot of other stores and stands than she could count. And there, on the corner, in a small bookstore…

She stepped inside upon seeing the familiar purple locks. She stepped quietly between the shelves, making her way across the wooden floor toward the corner she had spotted him in through the window of the musty shop. There weren't many people in the tiny bookstore, so it was easy to maneuver through it. However, she did feel as if she stuck out like a sore thumb with all the pink and white clothing.

She hesitantly stepped toward the young man after fully realizing her assumption was correct.

"Sh…Shinji?"

Shinji turned around and his eyes widened. They hadn't seen each other in a couple years' time at the very least and they both found it shocking to catch each other in the same place.

They both stood silently for a moment. "Ah…Sh-Shinji…it's been a while…"

"…And you are?"

"You know perfectly well who I am!" Hikari screeched. "I'm Hikari! The girl who travels with Satoshi and Takeshi, remember?!"

"Ah, right. You're the one who tried to rip my face off in Kurogane Gym, right?"

"Yes, for the same exact reason!" Hikari's cheeks puffed slightly in her frustration. "I can't believe you still don't remember me after all this time…"

"I haven't seen you in at least a year. How in the heck could I remember you specifically?"

"It's been a year and a half…" Hikari whispered quietly.

"Hey, Hikari! There you are!" Takeshi walked over to the place where the two of them were standing. "Come on, Satoshi's worrying about you. He thought you got lost in town again." Shinji smirked and Hikari glared at him.

"Come on, Takeshi, let's just go." Hikari grabbed Takeshi's wrist and led him out of the small store. She passed by the large window of the shop and glanced over to see if Shinji was still standing there. They made eye contact for no more than a second before Shinji broke away with a scowl, turning back to the book he was looking at.

Takeshi chuckled. "…What? Is something funny about Shinji laughing at me?"

"No, it's not that." Takeshi smiled lightly.

"Then what?"

"…" Takeshi sighed impatiently. "If you don't understand now…you'll understand someday."

"Understand what?" Takeshi shook his head.

"I might explain it to you someday if you still don't understand."

"…What kind of explanation is that?"

Takeshi said nothing else. Hikari knew that she wouldn't get anything else out of him, so she also fell silent.

After a few moments they reached the Pokemon Center. They stepped inside to see Satoshi standing a few steps away from the doors. "Ah, there you are!" He seemed relieved.

"What were you so worried about? You get lost more often than I do."

Satoshi laughed nervously and scratched his head. "Well, I got our room, anyway. Let's get some sleep; it's getting late."

Hikari nodded. "Right."

That night, Hikari had trouble getting to sleep. She tossed and turned, the words Takeshi threw at her swimming through her mind. She wanted nothing more than to figure out what he had meant.

What was it that she wouldn't understand? What wasn't there to understand about Shinji? He was cold hearted; he was ruthless with is pokemon; he was just plain rude. Very easy to understand. Was Takeshi seeing something that Hikari couldn't see past the fog of unsociability?

Her thoughts spun around for hours before she finally drifted away.

She had strange dreams. She dreamt of Shinji being kind to her. She dreamt of him treating his pokemon with more respect and love. She dreamt of him donating money to charities. Each and every one made her laugh upon waking, but none of them seemed to be what Takeshi was referring to, in her opinion.

She rolled out to the edge of her place in the bottom bunk and stood up. Takeshi and Satoshi had already gone off somewhere. She was sure that Satoshi had gone out to train for his next badge and…she wasn't sure about Takeshi. She figured that he had probably gone with Satoshi. She changed into her day clothes and went back out into the town. She had obtained a map in the Pokemon Center, so she was sure that she wasn't going to get lost this time.

Well, that was the case, anyway, until she…got lost.

"Now…I swear that I was here…" She pointed to the bookstore she had walked by the previous day, but she saw it no where in the real scenery around her. "I must have taken a wrong turn or something… Ah! There! I see the bakery over there." She matched "Horio's Bakery" to the one in its designated spot on the map. She had wanted to take a quick trip to the ice cream shop she had seen the day before, but she had trouble finding the small building.

After what seemed like ages, she finally came across the store. She excitedly opened the door and dashed to the tiny counter. "I'd like one strawberry cone, please!"

"Of course, Miss." The man behind the counter quickly scooped out a large lump of strawberry ice cream onto a waffle cone. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you!" Hikari paid him and walked back out of the store licking her ice cream. She was more than pleased to find that there were real pieces of strawberry lodged in it.

"Still here, I see." Hikari turned around sharply, causing part of her ice cream to fall to the ground.

"Shinji! You made me drop it!" Hikari said angrily.

Shinji chuckled. "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"I want you to buy me a new one."

"Make me."

Hikari glared at Shinji, knowing full well that there was no way to make him buy her a new ice cream.

"What did you mean, 'still here'?" she started, eating what was left of her ice cream.

"In the town."

"There's a contest coming up soon; of course I'm still here. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"That makes sense, I guess," Shinji said carelessly.

"What are you still doing here? I would have thought you'd get your badge and leave."

"…"

"Unless…you haven't gotten the badge yet?"

"…"

"Ha!" Hikari laughed. "A little tougher than you expected, ne?"

"Don't assume things, Troublesome. It's very possible that I haven't challenged the gym leader yet."

"Why don't you get a move on, then? That doesn't sound like you." Shinji turned away.

"There was something I was planning on doing before I left."

Hikari looked at him thoughtfully. "Really? What's that?"

"Nothing you should be concerned with. It's just something that came up while I've been in town and it's none of your business." Hikari began to wonder if this had anything to do with what Takeshi was talking about, but she quickly brushed it off as irrelevant.

"So…what are you going to do until you do…whatever it is?" Shinji looked at her.

"Why? Did you have something in mind?"

"You could spend the day with me!" Hikari smiled hugely. Shinji's face twisted into a smirk.

"And why would I want to do something like that?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because I don't like annoying girls." Hikari restrained her frustration.

"You don't even want to go see the pokemon supply store they have here?" she tempted.

"Most of the stuff there is for losers who don't know how to raise their pokemon."

"Could you be any more difficult?" Hikari huffed.

"I keep telling you that I don't want to hang out with you."

"Fine, then! Maybe I don't want to hang out with you, either!" Hikari swallowed the last bit of her cone and turned away sharply. She spotted Takeshi coming out of the trainers' store, obviously just having gotten some breeding supplies. "Ah, there you are, Takeshi!" Hikari shouted.

Takeshi turned his head and smiled. "Hey, Hikari! Nice to see you again, too, Shinji," he said warmly. Shinji's scowl deepened.

"Don't even bother with him, Takeshi; he doesn't want anything to do with us." Hikari glared up at Shinji and saw that he was staring at Takeshi, fists clenched. "He's not even paying any attention," she mumbled.

"We should probably go see what Satoshi is up to," Takeshi said as he walked over. "I figure he's training and he could use the help."

"Sure. Sounds good." Hikari glanced up at Shinji once again to see that he was no longer there. He was storming away in the opposite direction that they had previously been facing. "What's up with Shinji?"

Takeshi chuckled. "I see that you still haven't caught on."

"To what? If you're referring to what you said yesterday, then no, I still don't know what you were talking about." She looked at him. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Not right now."

Hikari groaned. "When _will _you tell me?"

"When it's so obvious that even Satoshi should have understood it." Takeshi thought for a moment. "Well, maybe not Satoshi."

Hikari laughed. "I hope that's soon, then," she said quietly as they walked away, "Because it's driving me crazy."

They went to the town square where Satoshi was commanding his pokemon to attack the water in the fountain. He had recently found things like that to be a great exercise in control of power. Upon noticing his two friends enter the square, he ceased his pokemons' attacks.

"Oh, hey, guys!" he said, waving. "What's new?"

Takeshi smiled. "Nothing much. How's training?"

"It's great! Pikachu just…" Hikari found it extremely difficult to concentrate on the two boys' conversation. She found herself still wondering what it was that could be making Shinji act strangely. No matter what, she still came up blank.

"Uh…Hikari?"

Hikari jumped at her name. "S-sorry! Daijoubu! What is it?"

"I just wanted to know if you were hungry," Satoshi said with concern.

Hikari realized that it was, in fact, almost lunch time, and remembered the wasted ice cream. "Starving!"

They walked to a nearby fast food restaurant. Hikari got a simple hamburger and french fries. She began to nibble on one of the fries.

"You're really quiet, Hikari," Satoshi said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not really," she said thoughtfully.

"She saw Shinji in town the past couple of days and noticed that he's been acting funny," Takeshi said, smiling.

"Don't mind that guy," Satoshi said. "Shinji's always doing things for his own selfish reasons." He took a large bite out of his hamburger.

"You could say that," Takeshi said.

What was it that Takeshi was seeing that Hikari wasn't?

"I can see by your expression that you still don't understand," Takeshi laughed. "Maybe I should just tell you…" Takeshi laughed again as Hikari started listening intently.

"What is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Shinji was _jealous _of me, Hikari."

…Jealous?

Shinji?

Shinji, jealous of Takeshi?

It was now Hikari's turn to laugh. "Why would he be jealous of you?"

"Because he thought that you were spending time in town. With me."

"…So? He already knows that you, Satoshi, and I travel together."

"No, Hikari. He thought we were here _together._" Satoshi seemed completely clueless as to what was going on.

Hikari's eyes widened as she realized what Takeshi was trying to say. Shinji thought that she and Takeshi were an item? And that _bothered_ him?

"But…I don't understand." Hikari felt stupid for saying that over and over again. "Why would he be jealous if you and I were dating?"

"Wow, Hikari, even _I _understand that part," Satoshi said, holding back snickers.

"Try asking him. Just see what happens." Takeshi smiled and Hikari couldn't tell if he was being serious or if he merely wanted to pick on her.

"Maybe I will." She suddenly stood up and walked out, not caring what either one of them thought. She was going to get to the bottom of this if it killed her.

If Shinji was jealous of Takeshi, then that would mean he would have wanted something that Takeshi had.

If he was jealous of Takeshi because he thought Takeshi was dating Hikari, then that would mean that he wanted to date Hikari.

Hikari stopped in the middle of the street.

"…HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?!" she cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Hikari was sitting on a bench, thinking about what it was that would keep Shinji from telling her something like this.

To start with, it was Shinji, of all people.

…That just about explained everything.

Rather, she decided that the best thing to ask herself was about the root of the problem. Why did he like her to begin with? He always complained about how ugly and annoying and bothersome she was; what would possess him to like her?

She cracked open another box of pocky she had bought. What was the best thing to do? Should she go and find him? Why had she even left the restaurant to begin with?

She munched on the semisweet chocolate covered breadstick.

"Lost again?" Hikari turned around and almost spit out the bite she had just taken. Shinji stood smirking near the bench she was sitting on. "I think I saw your keepers in the food place that way." He pointed to where she had just come from.

"I-I know that!" she said nervously. She wasn't sure exactly how to react to him after what she had found out. Should she confront him directly…?

No. She had heard many times (and experienced for herself) that boys tended to completely choke under the pressure of something like that. What would make it worse was the fact that Hikari didn't have any feelings to return to him.

Shinji's scowl returned. "You don't want to go and goof off with them?"

"Maybe I just have something better to do," Hikari said, imitating Shinji's mysterious talking in circles earlier. "Don't jump to conclusions."

"Hm. Good luck with that." Shinji's lips curled into another smirk as he turned to leave. But, Hikari wasn't ready for him to leave yet!

"Wait!" she shouted. Shinji stopped and turned his head. "Ah…" Stupid, stupid, stupid…How could she stop him like that without even knowing what to do or say?

"…What?"

"Um…I…" _Think, Hikari…_ Shinji waited impatiently. "…I wanted to help you with…whatever it was you wanted to do!"

"…"

_Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

"Maybe you _can _help me, actually." Hikari looked back up. Didn't he express that he'd rather she didn't know about it when they discussed it before?

"What is it that you need help with, exactly?"

"_That_ is still none of your business."

Hikari glared at him in disbelief. "How can I help you if I don't know what you need help with?"

"You're going to have to trust me." As much as Hikari didn't want to trust that smirking face, she knew that she had to in order to find out if he really did like her. This would probably be her only chance to spend enough time with him to find out.

"…Okay," she said hesitantly. "What do I need to do?"

Shinji was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about something. "…You can just come with me for a while. I'll figure out some way for you to help later." He knew she could help with something that she wasn't allowed to know about, but he didn't know how. This all made so little sense that Hikari thought about turning back and refusing instead.

However, Hikari knew that she had to at least try, no matter how unreasonable Shinji seemed.

"Okay. Sure. Sounds good." Shinji nodded and started to walk away. Hikari jogged to keep up with his wide stride. _I've never realized how tall he's gotten,_ Hikari thought.

Hikari grabbed onto the back of Shinji's coat in an effort to keep up. She couldn't help but notice that he hesitated ever so slightly at her touch. She wasn't sure if this was another "hint" or if it was merely a fantasy created by her mind to explain the action. Whatever the case, she suddenly felt awkward clutching on to him as she was.

He took her to the nearby Pokemon Center. "Why are we here?" she said, confused.

"This is where I'm staying for the time being."

"What?! Why can't I stay with Satoshi and Takeshi if we'll be in the same place?"

Shinji suddenly scowled deeper. "Because I'm not going in their room to wake you up in the morning. By then I'll know what you can do."

"W-well…okay…" Hikari realized that this could be her chance to find out what was really going on. "It'll only be for a few days, right?" Hikari bit her lip.

"What now?" Shinji snapped.

"I was just wondering…what about my friends? Takeshi and Satoshi would worry about me if I was to just disappear…"

"You can tell them whatever you want," Shinji sneered. "It doesn't matter to me."

"I'll be back soon!" Hikari jogged out of the Pokemon Center in the direction of the restaurant they had been in earlier. She spotted Takeshi.

"Ah! Takeshi!" she shouted.

"There you are! We were worried sick about you. You left and then just disappeared."

"I'm sorry! I…I saw Shinji, and…"

"I see…" Takeshi's lips curled into a smile.

"No, no! Nothing like that! He just told me that there's something he needs to do in town before he moves on, and I decided to help him with it to figure out if what you said was…true."

Takeshi nodded slowly. "I thought you were just going to ask him."

"Well, I…" Hikari's cheeks turned a slightly darker shade. "I didn't want to hurt him by asking something like that. I know people are often sensitive to people asking them if they like them. ESPECIALLY if the person doesn't like them back."

Takeshi smiled suspiciously. "Whatever you say," he chuckled.

"What, you don't believe me?"

"Just have fun. I assume that Shinji would rather that you stayed with him so that he didn't have to talk to us, right?"

"That's right…how did you…?"

Takeshi laughed. "He's the green-eyed monster now, remember?"

"You can't tell me that he'd get worked up over something stupid like that, can you?" Hikari mumbled.

Hikari turned around and jogged back to where Shinji was still standing. "So?"

"It's all taken care of. I just need to get my stuff out of our room and move it." Shinji sighed and followed after her.

Hikari opened the door of the room.

"Did a bomb explode in here?" Shinji muttered to himself. There were clothes scattered randomly about the floor, and pokemon healing supplies and food sat randomly tossed aside. Only Takeshi and Hikari's bags remained intact.

"Most of this is Satoshi's. My stuff is over there, in the corner." Hikari pointed to the corner next to the bottom bunk of the bed she slept in. She grabbed the small bag that was sitting there and walked back over to Shinji. "That's it!"

"Faster than I expected," he said, turning around.

"Did you want me to pick up some more?"

"No, that's perfectly alright. Just one less annoyance." Shinji stepped out and led her to the last room in the corridor. He turned the handle to reveal an especially small room. Hikari had no idea that rooms like this existed in the Pokemon Center, but she realized that they must be in place for solitary trainers, such as Shinji. There were only two twin sized beds and a couple of bedside tables. Shinji's bag was neatly sitting at the end of his bed.

Hikari walked over and carelessly tossed her bag onto the other bed. She flopped down. "Of course you'd want the room down in the corner," she said.

"The two rooms at the end of the hallway are the only ones that are this small." Embarrassed for saying something so stupid, Hikari chose to ignore it and lay down on her back. Shinji walked over to his bed and pulled a book out of his bag. He silently read, completely ignoring Hikari's existence.

"So…is this all that you ever do?"

"You were expecting a festival?"

"I guess I thought that you would do _something_."

"What do you want me to do?" Shinji looked her straight in the eye. "I don't have time for stupid things like training for contests or buying frivolous stuff. I might as well feed my mind." Hikari's heart suddenly began to pound at the intensity in his voice. Why was she reacting to him that way?

"I-I'm going out," she said suddenly, "I'll be back around dinner time." Before she had time to hear Shinji's reaction, she had bolted from the room.

She couldn't be falling in love with Shinji…could she?


	3. Chapter 3

Hikari rolled around in her warm bed, slowly waking up. She felt the chilly air around her nipping at her exposed face and pulled the sheets closer. The warm flannel sheets held heat very well and worked almost as if she was lying under an electric blanket.

She heard some rustling in the bed nearby. She suddenly remembered that she was there with Shinji rather than Takeshi or Satoshi. It was a strange feeling; she hadn't traveled with anyone but those two before.

She tried to remember the dream she had been having before she woke up. She racked her brain over and over, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. All she could remember was that it had something to do with Shinji.

She sat up to see what time it was. She noticed that it was only 4:00 in the morning. She had never woken up that early before. Shrugging, she lay back down and fell asleep, not having realized how tired she really still was.

By the time Hikari had awoken again, she had forgotten all about her strange dream. Part of that was more than likely the effect of how she was woken up.

"Time to get up, stupid girl." Hikari's eyes slowly opened. She was far too comfortable and drowsy to want to get up. What time was it?

She glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6:00 in the morning.

"Wh…what? How can you get up so early?" she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Early? This is late, lazy girl. I waited for you for at least an hour."

"I'm not lazy, I'm normal. No one I've ever known has gotten up at this hour." Hikari stretched and stepped out of her bed into the cold. She shivered slightly at the early morning shock.

Everything suddenly went black as something was tossed over her head. She pulled it off to see that it was Shinji's jacket. "Just wear that over your normal clothes if you're that cold," he said carelessly as he walked out of the room. "I've got something for you to do."

Ah, Hikari remembered now. The day before, she had left the room in a rush, not even knowing where she was going to go. She thought about going to find Takeshi or Satoshi, but she didn't need any more mysterious looks or comments from either one of them. She had had enough teasing for an entire lifetime.

She had found that familiar bookstore and sat inside on the floor, reading. For some reason, she found the little shop comforting. It was quiet and it reminded her of…

No, Shinji had nothing to do with it. It was the calming atmosphere.

Before she had realized it, she had spent all day there. She went back to the Pokemon Center after grabbing a bite to eat for her dinner and fell asleep in her clothes.

She graciously slipped the warm coat on. It was much too large for her; the sleeves reached down over her hands. Shinji's body heat still lingered on it. Had he really waited for at least an hour?

Hikari jogged after Shinji, enjoying the warmth of his coat. He walked out into the cold winter air as if it was nothing.

"…Are you sure you don't want this back?" she said hesitantly. "It's freezing out here."

"I've been in worse," he said plainly. Hikari shrugged and zipped up the coat.

"So…what was it that I was supposed to do?" Shinji suddenly turned around and grabbed her small, cold hands.

Hikari's heart raced at his warm touch. His hands felt like they were on fire and practically made hers sweat. They were surprisingly soft for someone as rough as Shinji.

"W-what are you doing?" she stuttered.

Shinji smirked. "No need to go blushing like that; I'm only trying to see how strong your hands are."

"I'm not blushing!"

"Your face is as red as a Tamato Berry."

"I-it's from the cold!"

Shinji merely chuckled. "As I expected, you have a child's hands," he grunted.

"Why did you need to check the strength of my hands?"

"I wanted you to scrub Torterra's back. However, I can see that you'd probably complain about it."

"You…wanted me to _clean_ your pokemon?" Hikari said, shocked. "_That's _the big thing that you needed to get done? And, besides that," Hikari added, growing angrier and angrier, "You don't even care about your pokemon!"

"Don't go and say something stupid like that," he snapped. "You should know perfectly well that pokemon can't go around with severe problems or they'll be even more worthless than they were to begin with." Hikari realized that he was right. Gym battlers had to take care of their pokemon just as much as coordinators did or the pokemon wouldn't be healthy and strong. "And no, that wasn't the thing I was talking about."

"Then…what is it?"

"I keep telling you to butt out. That was just one way to get closer to accomplishing what I wanted to do."

Hikari wondered about what it could possibly be. It was then that she realized that it must be because he hadn't won his badge yet. Of course! He obviously hadn't won the badge yet and he was trying to get her to help him take care of his pokemon for the big match.

"I can help you clean Torterra," she said. "I'm stronger than I look." Shinji looked at her doubtfully.

"Your hands are stronger than I gave you credit for, I'll give you that. You won't let go of mine." Shinji smirked as Hikari gasped and threw her hands down.

"Just grab the brushes so we can get started already!" Shinji shrugged and began to walk toward the city square. "Why do we have to start this so early, anyway? The water will be freezing," Hikari said sleepily.

"You obviously have no idea how long it takes to clean a pokemon as large as Torterra." They found the huge fountain in the middle of town. A few other trainers were trying to clean off their pokemon, as well.

"See, stupid girl?" Hikari did see. She spotted a few large pokemon such as Gyrados and Dragonite, and she even saw a few small ones getting quick morning baths. She almost felt bad for never having realized that this really was a good idea.

Shinji released his continent pokemon. "I was kind of hoping that it would be too early for anyone to be here," he muttered. "Didn't help that she had to sleep in like that."

"I heard that," Hikari said loudly. "And you could have woken me up." She glanced up at the gigantic pokemon. "Wait, Shinji, we can't use water on him!"

"Why not?" Shinji asked, turning around.

"He's part ground type! Won't the water hurt him?"

Shinji started to laugh, much to Hikari's frustration. "He's also grass type, stupid girl. Water has normal effectiveness on him. Which would make this perfectly fine." He splashed a bit of water onto the giant turtle. Torterra made no movement to indicate it was in pain, so Hikari breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry; I just wanted to make sure…"

"I know how to take care of my pokemon." Shinji glared over at her. "Don't treat me like an idiot."

"I didn't treat you like an idiot! I care about your pokemon, too! Is that so bad?"

Shinji made no comment as he turned back around and commanded Torterra to get into the fountain. The water sloshed up onto the trainers around it, causing them to laugh.

How could they laugh at what must be such cold water? Curious, Hikari stuck one hand into the shimmering liquid. She found that it was surprisingly warm.

"Heated fountain," Shinji said nonchalantly as he took out two large brushes. He squirted some soap on one and handed it to Hikari. Hikari dipped it quickly into the fountain and began to scrub all that she could reach. She saw Shinji climb up Torterra's back to scrub the mud and dirt caked in between the trees off. Hikari worked her hardest on scrubbing Torterra's collection of the same near his feet and the bottom of his shell.

After what seemed like an eternity to Hikari, they were finally done. The sun was just starting to come up and many other trainers had come out to the same area. Hikari wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She could see why Shinji didn't mind that she borrowed his jacket. He leapt down from Torterra and returned him.

"This doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I have to make sure he doesn't have too much grime weighing him down." Hikari nodded and handed Shinji's coat back to him. Shinji shook his head. "Just give it back to me in a while. You'll want it during the storm that's supposed to be coming soon. Besides, it probably smells like you now and I want you to wash it first." Hikari bypassed his final comment.

"Storm?" she asked innocently. "What storm?"

"I can't believe that even you haven't heard of it," he muttered. "Apparently we're supposed to get a blizzard or something that will basically snow us in for a few days. It's not going to get much higher than 10 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Wouldn't you need it?"

"Even I'm not stupid enough to go wandering around in a blizzard."

"So…are you saying that I am?!"

"I'm not saying anything." Shinji smirked. "You never know, when it comes to you."

Hikari began randomly shouting angry things at the apathetic boy as he turned and walked off. People stared at her as she chased after him.

"Shinji! You take that back right now!"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this one's so late, everyone -_-" I just got kinda lazy…and then I wanted to write the next chapter first (so I did, which ate up a lot of my time for this XD).

* * *

Hikari couldn't remember ever having smelled something so wonderful in her entire life. The smell itself wasn't anything special; it was only an average male's shampoo that she probably smelled. However, something about it seemed so calming to her that she couldn't seem to stop herself from smelling the sleeves frequently.

She pulled up her arm once again and took in the strong, heady scent of the blue jacket. What was it about that smell that sent her pulse soaring?

Hikari felt like something of a stalker as she sat and smelled Shinji's jacket. She knew that in reality she wasn't; she was just enjoying how it smelled. However, if anyone saw what she was doing, she knew that they would take it the wrong way. ESPECIALLY Shinji. She put her hands down and sighed.

Satoshi's jackets had never affected her this way. Takeshi's blankets and pillows had never affected her this way. They always gave her a feeling of comfort, but it was more like the kind of comfort you would receive from a family member. This feeling was…different. It was like the feeling mentioned previously, but more intense. It was more serious and bubblier all at the same time. Hikari didn't really understand why she felt like this, but she knew that she enjoyed it.

"Are you ready to get going yet?" Shinji stepped into the room.

"Oh! Yeah, just a minute." Shinji had told Hikari that they were going to go and do some training. Hikari was extremely surprised that Shinji would allow her to help with something like this, but she said nothing for fear of receiving a nasty comment or insult.

She stood up and straightened out his coat. "You're positive that you don't want this back?" she said for the millionth time that day. "I have my own coat that I can wear."

"I keep telling you that it doesn't matter. If you ask me about it one more time, I'm going to make you eat it." Hikari quickly shut up.

She stood up and followed him out the door. They walked to the very outskirts of town. After passing through a small layer of trees, they came across an open field. Small wildflowers bloomed across the never ending sea of tall grass.

"Don't just stare, stupid girl," Shinji said as he released his Ursaring. "Bring out your pokemon!"

"Right!" Hikari quickly threw a Pokeball. "Ambipom! Spotlight!" The purple monkey pokemon came out of the small space in a flash of light. "So…how did you want to train, Shinji?"

"We're going to battle. First, I need to test if your pokemon can stand up to mine." Shinji indicated for his Ursaring to move forward. "Hyper Beam!"

"Wh-what?!" Hikari yelped. "You can't start with something like that!" Nonetheless, Ursaring began charging a large, yellow ball of energy in its mouth. "A-Ambipom, use Protect!" Ambipom quickly brought up a round shield to defend itself. The Hyper Beam attack hit it and gave no damage to the monkey pokemon. However, the force of the impact moved Ambipom slightly. Hikari breathed a huge sigh of relief when Ambipom came out of the blast unharmed.

"Hm…I see that you've gotten a hold of at least a few TMs," Shinji smirked. "And your pokemon held up better than I expected."

"Are…are you crazy?!" Hikari gasped. "You really could have hurt my pokemon!"

"But I didn't," Shinji said simply.

"What if you did?"

"But I _didn't_." It suddenly dawned on Hikari that it was quite possible he had expected her pokemon to be strong enough to withstand it. Did he really have such high expectations of her…?

Hikari gave another sigh, glad that Ursaring had to take time to recharge. "I guess that as long as Ambipom's okay, then it's not that big of a deal…" Shinji looked surprised.

"Just keep battling, stupid girl."

"Oh! Ambipom, use DoubleSlap!" Ambipom's two tails came up and began successively slapping Ursaring.

They went on battling and training for at least 30 minutes. They went through almost all of their pokemon (Hikari's seemed to go down the fastest until she released her Prinplup).

"We're both down at one pokemon, Shinji!" Hikari shouted. "Who knows? Maybe I'll beat you!"

"Dream on," Shinji mumbled. "Torterra, use Earthquake!" Torterra suddenly caused the ground to move beneath them.

Hikari, being as clumsy as she was, didn't expect this and stumbled. Trying to catch her balance once again, she ended up tripping over her own feet—right into the path of the SolarBeam that was just commanded of it.

"Stupid!" Shinji shouted as he dove to her. Torterra's powerful SolarBeam attack hit the ground as Prinplup, the ACTUAL target, dodged.

"Sh-Shinji…" Hikari mumbled sheepishly, dazed from the sudden events. She could tell that she was lying on her back as she could feel the cool grass on her shoulders. She opened her eyes to see nothing but some strange bluish-green. It was suspiciously the same shade as Shinji's shirt…

"Are you alright, troublesome girl?" The bluish-green moved up and away and Hikari could see Shinji's face hovering over her. Her face flushed.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," she said quietly. She couldn't recall ever having been that close to a boy before, let alone lying underneath one.

Shinji silently stood up and held his hand out. Hikari slowly took it and stood up as well. Shinji whipped out a Pokeball and returned Torterra.

"I think that's enough for today." Hikari nodded and returned her pokemon. "It's starting to get a little colder. The storm should probably be coming soon."

"What? I thought it was supposed to come later this week," Hikari said.

"It _is _later this week. It's Friday, stupid girl." Hikari hadn't realized how much time she had already spent in the town before she had seen Shinji there. It was as if her memory was suddenly wiped clean when she spotted him in that bookstore. The short time had both stopped the world from spinning and flown right by for Hikari. "I can see the clouds rolling in now; we should get back to town."

"Oh! But…my contest is supposed to be tomorrow!" Hikari shrieked, suddenly remembering.

Shinji turned slowly to her. "I'm sure they'll reschedule it or something. Now stop complaining and let's go." Hikari nodded and followed him.

Shinji reached into his bag to return Torterra's Pokeball and pulled out a box of Pocky. Shinji liked Pocky, too…?

"Here. Eat this." He gruffly handed it to the girl behind him.

"You…you got this for me?"

"You haven't eaten anything all day. I figured that you would forget something as obvious as food, so I brought that." Ignoring his insult, Hikari looked down at the box again. It was strawberry. She hungrily opened the box and pulled out a stick.

She held it out to Shinji. "Do you want one?"

"No. I can't eat that junk."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten anything all day, either."

"It doesn't matter. I can eat later."

What was this feeling that Hikari was getting? For some reason, she couldn't help but notice her heart fluttering at the sound of his voice being so quiet. It was a relaxed sort of sound (when coming from Shinji, anyway) and it sent Hikari's heartbeat flying. She stuffed the iced biscuit stick into her mouth without protest.

They walked back to the Pokemon Center and Shinji got something quick to eat. Hikari rushed back to their room, still trying to conceal the blush that wouldn't fade. She threw herself into bed, successfully covering her face. She would figure out how she really felt in the morning. For now, all she wanted to do was escape to her dreams.

Wait…dreams…?

Hikari suddenly had a flashback. She remembered the previous night and what she had dreamt about perfectly.

She remembered a small, simple room. In the dream it was assumed that it was Shinji's. Shinji was sitting on his bed reading one of his books. Hikari had walked over and sat down next to him. He flipped the book shut and turned to face her. In a move that was completely un-Shinji-like, he mumbled, "Stupid girl…" and leaned in…and…

Hikari's face flushed even more than it had before. Why did she have such a dream? Did she have deeper feelings for the cold boy than she had ever imagined…?


	5. Chapter 5

Hikari sighed, looking out the window at the storm that was raging outside. "I hope they reschedule my contest…"

"Just whine about it some more. That'll fix it." She turned around and quickly glared at Shinji.

"I wasn't asking for your comfort, although I can see that I won't be getting any." She turned back to watching the snow blow around outside of the window. Shinji looked back down at his book.

It was a very quiet morning. Well, not if you count what was going on outside of their little room. Most of the other visitors to the Pokemon Center were congregating outside in the lobby area. Hikari had decided to stay back in the room with Shinji to keep him company as she knew that he wouldn't leave with all of the commotion outside. She had grown accustomed to his antisocial behavior.

"Good. I was afraid you were going to ask me to tell you that it was going to be all right or something." Shinji turned the page.

They were quiet for quite some time. Hikari had noticed that a good lot of their time was spent in silence. She didn't mind it as much as she had to start with. It seemed as though she had also grown accustomed to Shinji's habit of not talking.

But…what was she going to do for the rest of the day?

Hikari was cooped up in that little room with Shinji until the storm let up. She couldn't think of anything to do.

"Hey, Shinji, do you want to play a game?"

"No."

"But you don't even know what the game is!"

"And I don't intend to find out."

"Pleeeease?"

"No."

"It's just a word game…" Hikari pouted.

"Is it the one where you say a random syllable, I come up with a word that starts with that, and then you come up with a word starting with the last syllable of mine…"

"And if your word ends in 'n', you lose!"

"I hate that game."

Hikari pouted. "You're no fun…"

"I apologize for being such a boring person to be around."

"I never said that."

"But I know you think that."

"Why, are you a mind reader?"

"I might as well be. When we're talking about you, anyway," Shinji said, smirking.

"Oh, please go on," Hikari said sarcastically.

"What's there to say? You're an open book." Hikari glared at him. Shinji was being quite talkative.

"And it's better to be completely closed off from the world?"

"Of course. Emotions show weakness." Hikari shook her head.

"You're wrong. Showing emotions doesn't make you weak; fearing your emotions does. Or that's what I think, at least."

"I wouldn't doubt it; you have to constantly deal with the idiot and the breeder," Shinji sneered.

"Why can't you be at least a _little _nicer?"

"Why do you have such a problem with putting up with me?"

"Why do _you _have such a problem with me traveling with them?"

"I don't like the idea of you spending all that time with them. Their stupidity might rub off on you." Shinji casually turned a page in his book.

"Are you that jealous of Takeshi?" she blurted out without thinking. Hikari slapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. She had never meant for anything like that to happen.

Hikari froze and avoided eye contact with the boy in front of her. She heard a sigh and a ruffling of pages as he set the book down.

Shinji's strong voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Yes." Hikari thought about picking her ears out to make sure she had heard that correctly.

"W…what?"

"I said yes, stupid girl." She glanced up at him and found it impossible to break eye contact. His cold, black eyes held hers with an iron grip.

He stroked her cheek with his left hand, but his face remained carved in stone as it usually was. Hikari wasn't sure exactly what to believe or what was really going on.

"Shinji…" she said softly.

"You're always with him. I see you two like that wherever you go."

"Shinji, what are you talking about? Takeshi is like an older brother to me." Shinji's eyes sparked slightly with surprise. "I could never feel that way about him. That," she added, "and he's almost 10 years older than me."

Shinji smirked. "You never know; he could be the pedophile type. He seems to go after every girl with bright eyes he sees."

"Shinji!" Hikari hit Shinji's shoulder hard, but he merely chuckled.

"No need to get violent."

"How dare you say such a thing about a good friend of mine?!"

"If you don't have feelings for him, then who _do _you have feelings for?" Shinji said suddenly. His features were completely serious and unreadable once again.

"M-me? W-well, I…" Shinji stared into her eyes impatiently. What was she doing? He had practically confessed to her and here she was, stuttering like an idiot. Could she really not tell how she really felt? Was she wrong in that _she _was the one who had no idea how she felt?

"If you're not going to tell me, then just get out of here. I don't have time to stand here and watch you blubber about nothing."

"N-no! I…I have something to say." Shinji's expression showed a hint of interest. "I…All this time, I thought that you were confused. I thought that you had no idea about how you felt, or that you didn't know you…liked me…" she glanced up at Shinji to make sure she hadn't gone over the line, but he made no change in face or stance. "…But I learned very quickly that that wasn't the case. You knew about yourself perfectly all along. It was me who didn't know anything." She bravely looked up at Shinji whose eyes stared back at her blankly. "Shinji, I love you!"

Hikari immediately felt Shinji's lips mash against hers. His hands found their way to her waist and hers traveled up to his neck. Shinji quickly broke away, however.

"I would have thought…I'm sorry for saying that, Shinji," Hikari said after a while. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Hurt me? What makes you think that you hurt me?"

"Well…what I said was really harsh…"

Shinji smirked. "You think something like that would affect me? I'm not as weak as you might think, stupid girl."

"You were weak enough to admit that you liked me."

"Admitting something like that takes a lot of courage." He smirked again. "Besides, who said that I ever admitted anything?"

"But…wait, that wouldn't make any sense!" Hikari shrieked. "If you're jealous of Takeshi and you kissed me, wouldn't that mean you liked me?"

"Figure it out for yourself."

Hikari angrily shoved him, but he was far too strong for someone as petite as Hikari to move him. Shinji laughed at her poor attempts to "hurt" him.

"_I'm_ going to say that you like me."

"Say whatever you like."

"Why do you have to be so difficult?!"

"I'm being perfectly forward. It's not my fault if you can't figure out how to read my feelings."

"Hard to read the feelings of a person who doesn't have any."

"Ouch," Shinji said sarcastically. He turned to leave.

"Hm…Well, if you're saying that you don't like me, then the fact that you kissed me after I told you how I felt would mean you were taking advantage of me." Hikari crossed her arms stubbornly as Shinji turned back around.

"I already told you that I never said anything like that. That doesn't mean I _don't_ like you."

"Aha! So you _do_ like me!"

"I never said that, _either_."

Hikari was getting nowhere with this. Did he like her or not? Would she ever even get a straight answer out of him?

She looked outside disdainfully and saw that it was still snowing like crazy. She sighed.

Hikari felt something lightly fall on her shoulders and turned to see that it was Shinji's coat. She saw Shinji sit back down where he was before.

"Shinji?" she asked, pulling the coat closer to her.

"Hm?"

"I know I've asked you at least a dozen times before this," she started hesitantly, "But if you already had your badge, what _was_ it that you had to do before you left town?"

"It doesn't matter. It's already done." He smirked at her.

"Wait…was…was that…" Hikari thought hard, slowly realizing what he had wanted all along. "Was that whole thing just to get me to get away from Takeshi?"

Shinji was silent. He scowled toward the ceiling, pretending to not have heard what she said.

"It's true?!"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Troublesome."

"Then what was it?!" Shinji was silent again. "Or…" she continued, "I suppose it could have been an attempt at spending more time with me until I realized that I liked you. You're so perceptive that you might as well be a mind reader. It would make sense that you knew more about me than I did." Hikari rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Shinji smirked.

"…Or maybe it was both?"

"Or maybe you should be quiet," Shinji said nonchalantly.

"Not until you tell me what you needed to do in town."

Shinji sighed loudly. "If you really must know, then yes, I wanted to get you away from that idiot and that stupid breeder. However," he said as Hikari's expression gave away her excitement for noticing something about him, "It's not for the reason that you think it is. I wanted you away from them so that you could…spend time with me." He mumbled the last part very quietly, turning away.

"Yes! So I was at least half right on the first part, and I was fully right on the second part!"

Shinji said absolutely nothing. Hikari was suddenly suspicious. Usually he would have made some sarcastic remark about how she was slow for not noticing before.

"…Or maybe you only wanted me to spend time with you…just because you wanted to?" she said mischievously.

"Or maybe you should just be quiet," Shinji said angrily.

"HA! So I _was_ right! You couldn't stand being away from me!" Hikari laughed.

Shinji glared at her. "What difference does it make to you, anyway? You wanted to spend time with me, too." Hikari flushed.

"At least I was willing to admit it!"

"At least I don't blush at the mention of your name!" Hikari blushed even deeper. Shinji chuckled. "A perfect example."

"At least…at least…I'm not jealous of anyone!"

"I travel alone. Who do you even have to be jealous of?" Hikari huffed angrily and turned her back to him. She pulled his warm coat tightly around her.

"I don't know…" She glanced back at him. He was still staring at her intently. Hikari drew circles on her chair with her finger. His expression sent chills down her spine.

Hikari shivered involuntarily. "Stupid wimpy girl," she heard Shinji mutter. Before she could turn around and retaliate, she felt his strong arms encircle him. She suddenly felt much warmer—not only from his body heat, but from the blood rushing up to her face.

"Now stop complaining," Shinji mumbled angrily. "Tomorrow it should be clearer and…we can do something. Or whatever." Hikari really didn't care if Shinji knew that she had never actually said anything or not. All she cared about was the snow outside and when it would clear up. She'd really like to have that date he had just mentioned.

* * *

A/N: No, this ISN'T the end 8D


	6. Chapter 6

"Wake up, stupid girl." Hikari was startled awake by Shinji's voice rumbling through his chest. She lifted her head up from it and looked up. His expression was just as unwavering as it had always been. Had all that had happened been only a dream…?

No. If it was, then she wouldn't be sitting there with him.

"So…what do you want to do, Shinji?" she said sleepily.

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought you wanted to 'do something' with me today." Hikari smiled sweetly.

Shinji looked away angrily. "Sure. Whatever. The snow's cleared up."

Hikari giggled and stood up. She glanced out the window to see that Shinji was wrong. The storm may have cleared, but the snow covered the ground like a thick, white blanket. Hikari shucked off Shinji's jacket and tossed it at him.

"I think you'll need that," Hikari said as she dashed off to change.

When she had changed into a clean pair of clothing for the new day, she found that Shinji had already left the room. She buttoned up her coat and walked out. He was standing impatiently in the lobby area.

"Oh, you're finally done. Good." Shinji roughly grabbed her wrist and led her out of the Pokemon Center.

"Sh-Shinji!" Hikari yelped. "You're hurting my wrist! Where are you taking me?"

Shinji said nothing as he dragged the shrieking girl to…wherever he was going.

When he finally stopped, Hikari was breathing heavily. She had to run to keep up with his wide stride. She jerked her hand out of his grip.

"What was all that about?!"

Shinji nodded toward the building in front of them. Hikari looked up and saw that it was the hall they had for the contest she had missed.

"Why…why are we here?"

Shinji sighed heavily and pointed to the sign posted on the door. It read:

ANY PARTICIPANTS OF THE CONTEST THAT WAS TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY ARE TO BE INFORMED THAT IT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO TUESDAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION.

Hikari gasped slightly. He had led her all they way there to show her there was nothing to worry about for her contest?

"Shinji…thank you…" Shinji made a low grunt to indicate that he didn't want her praise or thanks.

"Oh, good! I see that you saw the sign." Hikari turned around at the sound of the voice.

"Takeshi!"

"Haven't seen you two in a while." Takeshi smiled warmly. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing," Shinji grumbled.

Takeshi suddenly looked hesitant. "I don't want to interrupt whatever it is the two of you are doing, so I'll just get going." He smiled again and waved. "See you, Hikari, Shinji." He continued on the path that he had been going along before catching the two of them.

"You don't have to treat Takeshi like scum, even if jealous of him," Hikari pouted after Takeshi had gone away.

"I suppose that I should have been clearer. I'm jealous of _you_."

Hikari gave him a puzzled look. "But…that doesn't make any sense. How can you be jealous of me if I'm what you want, basically?"

"There's more than one meaning of jealousy, stupid girl." Shinji turned away from her.

"…And…how am I supposed to know what other meaning you're talking about?"

"Ever heard of a dictionary?" he snapped as he skulked away. "Come find me when you figure things out for yourself."

"Why do you treat him like that, then?" she shouted to him.

"Ever consider the fact that I might just not like him?"

Hikari stood alone in silence for a short time before deciding to turn back to the Pokemon Center. How dare he suddenly leave her like that! And for only not understanding what he was talking about!

Suddenly, it dawned on her that there was an application on her Poketch that functioned as a dictionary. She quickly entered "jealous" into it and hit enter, determined to find out what the heck it was that Shinji was talking about.

"jeal-ous

adj.

1. Fearful or wary of being supplanted; apprehensive of losing affection or position.  
2.  
a. Resentful or bitter in rivalry; envious: _jealous of the success of others_.  
b. Inclined to suspect rivalry.  
3. Having to do with or arising from feelings of envy, apprehension, or bitterness: _jealous thoughts_.  
4. Vigilant in guarding something: _We are jealous of our good name_.  
5. Intolerant of disloyalty or infidelity; autocratic: _a jealous God_."

The first definition flashed obviously in front of her face. She had never considered jealousy to be something that…insecure. The fourth one also caught her eye.

By stating that Shinji was jealous, could he have actually meant that he was fearful of losing his place in her affections? Was he really trying to guard her from other people? Hikari remembered what he had said about Shinji being a pedophile. Was it really a possibility that he considered this to be true?

She jogged down the street, trying to find the familiar purple locks. Her feet crunched through the snow, her boots leaving small footprints in a distinctive line behind her.

How could she have been so stupid?! Shinji was trying to indicate his deeper feelings to her in the only way he could, and she could only stand there like an idiot and not understand.

She spotted him walking in the same direction as she was. She ran even faster, desperately hoping to catch up to him, even with her short legs.

"Shinji!" she shouted. "I…I understand!" Shinji stopped and slowly turned around.

"Understand?" He gave her a moment to catch up. She made it over to him and hunched over, gasping.

"I…understand…what you mean…jealous…" She threw her arms around him without warning. Shinji made no movement.

"Troublesome girl…we're in public…" he mumbled.

"Let's finish our date," she whispered.

Hikari didn't care that Takeshi was wrong about what Shinji really felt. She didn't care that they were in public as she hugged him. All that she cared about was finally understanding the most impossible to understand person she had ever met…or loved.

* * *

A/N: And…a cute little ending for my story. Got the idea for the other definition of jealousy from my pastor, actually. His sermon mentioned the idea of "a jealous God" actually meaning what I used here. Got the quoted definition from "The Free Dictionary."

(Because I'm sure that I'm going to get questions about this) Shinji walked off angry because he was upset that Hikari didn't understand. But, being that he was Shinji, he didn't want to admit that.

What Shinji was referring to at the end was a custom of Japan. In Japan, it's considered rude or improper to have PDA, so hugging/kissing in public is taboo. I figured that since this was a Japanese show, you know…


End file.
